I have reviewed hundreds of cars, trucks, SUVs, crossovers, minivans and motorcycles for a wide assortment of magazines and websites. If it's got wheels and an engine, I want to drive it or ride it, and then write about it. I'm fascinated by transportation, and by what our means of transportation says about who we are. I have lived all over the place, but I've settled in Southern California for the great roads.

The Ugliest Cars Of 2012

Automotive design is part art, part engineering, part manufacturing, part marketing. On rare occasions, all those parts come together to create a brilliant, transcendent car. This year, art, engineering, manufacturing and marketing have collaborated to produce the vehicles on our list of the Ugliest Cars Of 2012.

We polled a group of experts, and asked them to express their opinions on a list of vehicles available for sale in the United States for the 2012 model year. We also asked them to share their thoughts about the current state of automotive design. Our experts were: George Peterson, President and founder of Auto Pacific, a leading automotive marketing research and product-consulting firm; Michelle Naranjo, managing editor at Autobytel.com, automotive socialite and host of Autoline Detroit’s Open Line Show, often found on Twitter as @MissMotorMouth; and Evan Gubernick, creative director of Antenna Magazine, a men’s lifestyle magazine.

Each of our experts agreed that the Smart Pure Coupe deserved a place on our list. According to Peterson, the Smart is too small and “never accomplished the flexibility of its original concept.” Naranjo grouped the small vehicle designs as a category, and then stated that “the worst has to be the Smart for its inability to keep up with the Joneses of the subcompact world and continue to look like the toy in the bottom of the generic cereal box.” Gubernick was similarly dismissive: “Wedged amongst the bicycle racks on the canals of Amsterdam, this thing might seem at home. But here in the U.S., it will always be a toy hanging from a rear view mirror.”

The Acura ZDX received a heap of abuse as well. Gubernick derided the compact crossover’s design: “With the front of one car slapped on the body of another, this is simply misshapen. In an attempt to be both elegant and sporty, it is neither.” Peterson pointed at “mis-proportioned styling at every angle.” He called the ZDX “a very unfortunate car that sacrifices function for funk.” Naranjo claims that the ZDX “takes the parrot beak and turns it into a toucan.”

For Naranjo, the GMC Terrain was “one of the ugliest” SUV designs for “its sheer insistence on remaining a landlocked beast incapable of budging off a sandbar. To say that there is stillness in the design is a vast understatement considering that it isn’t stillness one perceives but the staidness of a concrete block bunker.” Gubernick wasn’t much kinder. “I kind of love the foulness of this, such a typically American reaction to European style. One day, they’ll figure out how to put Superman-style abs on the extruding details,” stated the Antenna creative director. Peterson is more wistful. “GMC Terrain tries too hard to look like a tough-and-rugged traditional SUV,” he opined. “This look may have passed.” According to Peterson, Terrain’s design is only “moderately ugly,” though “more appropriate for 1990 than 2012.”

Automotive design is a highly collaborative art, combining practical industrial design and engineering with pure aesthetics. Most automotive designers work as part of a team, and sometimes the resulting vehicles veer dramatically from the original concept that inspired the design. “I don’t believe bad designers made bad cars, and good designers made good ones,” says Gubernick. “The ethos of a company will determine with is ultimately produced… Beautiful cars are the result of a team on the same page. Ugly cars are the result of the opposite.”

“Ugly” is a matter of perspective, according to Naranjo: “What is ugly to some may be the high performance, luxury or quirkiness that the driver feels suits their needs and expectations.” Gubernick concurs, concluding that “it’s a good time for car design” with a European sensibility emerging in American car design. “You see on the streets what you used to see only at the shows as concept cars, and though I’ve poked fun at them, mistakes will be made during these accelerated moments of evolution and that’s fine. The further the boundaries are pushed, the more the middle of the road will move as well. We reject what we do not know, so to call something ‘ugly’ may be more of a comment on our comfort with what’s next than with what we are actually seeing.”

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Mr. Fogelson, I think some of your “experts” have their preferrences, we all do, but I think they’re off the beaten path with most of your winners of your Ugliest Cars of 2012. Some of them are, certifiably ugly! But most of them I think are maybe just opinion, and I don’t think they are universal at that. I think the new little Ford Delivery Van is a very nice, fresh look for the small delivery van category. They’re really popular in the southeast. Many of the others, while not the most attractive model from that marque, they can hardly be categoried as ugly. Of course, that’s just MY opinion! Thanks!

It’s always a minefield when you start out with the premise that a design is “The Ugliest.” I don’t expect everyone to agree with this list — but I am very interested to hear your reaction. Thanks for commenting.

Jason those experts are off by over 70% in their opinions as to the ugliest cars of 2012. I bet if a public poll were taken as to which cars are truly ugly on your list the majority would rank few as being in that catagory. Forget the expert opinion.It’s obvious they have poor taste and their opinions do not accurately reflect popular opinion.Those so-called experts need to find other career fields. They are grossly incompetent and unqualified and and they clearly have demonstrated their erroneous opinions and analysis. From now on Jason seek popular opinion. You will get a more accurate view of what the public truly considers the ugliest cars of 2012.

I don’t agree that those experts “have poor taste.” I recruited those experts because I respect their taste and value their opinions. I also don’t agree that popular opinion rules when it comes to taste, especially aesthetic judgement. Popularity and quality are not synonymous.

Still, I welcome your thoughts, and the thoughts of other members of the public. I’d love to hear your opinions about which cars are the most beautiful — and ugliest.

While I applaud your taking up a controversial topic – I agree with previous comments about being off by about 70%. Listening to ‘Industry Insiders’ on what is ugly, reminds me of film critics that pan movies that make over $200m. Porsche Panamera one of the ugliest cars? Really? Over the Nissan Cube or Leaf? Uglier than a kia Sedona? I think its more likely that car insiders don’t like the idea of Porsche making a 4 door :-) But lets focus on areas of agreement – every model of Prius should make every ugliest cars list – nicely done!

Thanks for your opinion. I don’t know if Porsche’s Panamera is “uglier than a Kia Sedona,” but it certainly has proved to be a polarizing design. I don’t think all of the criticism can be traced to outrage over Porsche’s production of a sedan. I’ve heard from many people, not just from industry insiders, that the Panamera is just plain ugly. And on the flip side, I have heard from many who feel that the Prius is attractive. Design is one of those areas where everyone feels that they are an expert.

I agree with ‘em all except for the Ford Delivery Van. Yeah it’s not the prettiest thing but it serves a purpose and probably the best darn thing on gas in any hard-working man’s inventory. However, you are still missing a few from the Nissan stable. The Juke and the Infiniti FX. Repulsive and Over-priced repulsive!

I don’t know why Acura swung from conservative to an “already been in a wreck” design across the product line. The Panamera is ugly and repellant while the Aston Martin Rapide is a sight to behold.

It seems to me that most car makers are just going to copy this or that from one another. I think the last time I saw a fresh design that made me salivate was the ’89 (in Japan) and ’90 (ROW) was the Nissan 300ZX Turbo. I can look at those all day long and continue to find details here and there that I like. The rear wing change on the later cars wasn’t good but the design stands the test of time.

I agree that there is plenty of evidence that new designs are inspired by previous ones. Good point. I’m surprised that you haven’t seen anything that seemed fresh since 1989, though. There’s plenty of cool, interesting design happening across the automotive world. Designers tell me that smaller cars are more difficult to design than larger ones — simply less real estate available, and the issues of aerodynamics and maximizing interior space constrict design choices, so many small vehicles bear striking similarities to each other.